If you have any questions regarding any events please call, 773.769.1140 for more information.

Youth Ready Chicago

Application Deadline: June 4th, 2010
Website: http://www.youthreadychicago.org
Hotline: Call 311

The City and its public and private sector partners will provide more than 14,000 summer jobs for young people 14-24 this year, Mayor Daley also urged every company in the city to hire young people this summer or contribute money to the City’s “Youth Ready Chicago” program.

“A summer job is one of the most important tools we have to give young people something much better to do than just hang around the streets in the summer. It keeps them out of harm’s way,” Daley said in a news conference held at the Gary Comer Youth Center, 7200 S. Ingleside Ave.

“Not only do they provide the work experience that may lead to a career, but in some cases these jobs will be needed to help families make ends meet during these very tough economic times,” he said.

Daley said the opportunities provided through “Youth Ready Chicago” include internships, apprenticeships and jobs in both the public and private sector. Public sector partners include After School Matters, the Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Schools the Chicago Housing Authority and City Colleges of Chicago.

Daley said there are several new or expanded programs this summer, including:

• A new Community Development Block Grant Apprenticeship program focusing on green industries. Three hundred young people will gain exposure to green jobs through career exploration activities and internships in the green industries.
• A new program for At-Risk Youth designed to provide year-round employment services, skill development and a paid work experience to 50 gang-affiliated or court involved young people who are either in school or not. $225,000 in re-programmed corporate funding is supporting this program.
• A new Youth Employment Program that will provide year-round, high quality paid work experience for 500 in-school and out-of-school youth ages 16 to 24. The program targets young people from Chicago communities with high levels of teen violence and low levels of economic opportunity. The program is funded with $1.5 million from the parking meter human infrastructure fund.
• In addition, the Chicago Housing Authority will add 370 opportunities to its “Learn & Earn” program for CHA residents ages 13 to 15.

Last year, “Youth Ready Chicago” was able to provide almost 20,000 summer opportunities, almost 8,000 of which were subsidized by the federal economic stimulus program.

Unfortunately, that money is not available this year, so the City is working harder than ever to fill the gap, the Mayor said.

Daley urged Congress to pass legislation now being considered in the U.S. Senate to add money for summer jobs for this year.

“Without continued federal investment, an entire generation of young people is at risk of being severely or even permanently disconnected from the labor market,” he said.

But, Daley said, government can’t do this alone.

“We have many partners in the private sector who are strongly committed to the Youth Ready Chicago program. But we all know that most jobs are in the private sector. So today I want to challenge our business leaders to strengthen their efforts to provide jobs for young people,” he said.

Daley said businesses can do this by supporting the City’s program or by hiring young people themselves.

“The bottom line is that we need everyone’s help to keep our kids occupied in a positive way this summer,” he said.

Since those first meetings in 1960, ECC has fulfilled this mission by fighting absentee landlords and drug houses, preserving hundreds of units of affordable housing, helping to form more than a dozen other community organizations, working to secure historic sites for public use as neighborhood parks, organizing mass property assessment appeals to help homeowners, and coordinating neighborhood cleaning and greening activities, among many other efforts.

Today, ECC continuse to identify and address community priorities in a range of ways: through volunteer-powered committees covering a wide range of issues, as a central hub for community information via our website and other means, and by providing needed services to vulnerable members of our community and the public, including immigrant and senior outreach, housing information and resources, and youth arts programs.

Through ECC’s leadership, such community icons as the Edgewater Library, Broadway Armory Park, the Edgewater Historical Society, the North Lakeside Cultural Center and Berger Park mansions, theEdgewater Development Corporation, and the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce came into existence. ECC pioneered the CAPS program with the Chicago Police Department right here in Edgewater, worked to clean up crime, drug activity, and slum buildings along Winthrop and Kenmore and other areas, and preserved hundreds of units of affordable housing.

ECC’s program to provide food and clothing to those in need, Care for Real, has been serving Edgewater for more than 40 years. With cooperation from religious institutions, businesses, individuals and many volunteers, Care for Real serves over 3,000 people every month.

Today, ECC also offers senior citizen, immigrant, youth, housing, and safety programs, many of which also serve low- to moderate-income residents of Edgewater. In addition, our Edgewater Beautiful Committee works to clean and beautify the neighborhood, while the Edgewater Environmental Sustainability Project aims to make Edgewater the “greenest” community in Chicago.

Website: http://www.edgewatercommunitycouncil.org

The opening program for Women’s History Month 2010 is “Tragedy to Triumph – The Story of Artemisia,” a uniquely inspiring music/multimedia performance about 17th century Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi. This contemporary piece features Linda M. Smith on vocals, guitar and piano with Eugenia Elliott on vocal harmony, flute and guitar, Katherine Hughes on vocal harmony and violin and Robert Arendt on vocal harmony, electric bass and guitar. Smith’s passionate and soulful style weaves poetry, music and video of Artemisia’s work to communicate the intriguing life story of the best known female artist in western art history before the modern era.

Find out more about women’s contribution to the visual arts.

Find out more about women’s history.

Find exhibits by local women artists at neighborhood libraries.

Women’s History Month Calendar of Events
Please check the Chicago Library website for any program changes in this section.

Art Tour of the Harold Washington Library Center
Tuesday, March 2, 2:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
1st Floor Lobby

Celebration of Women through Chinese Traditional Song
Tuesday, March 2, 6:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
Cindy Pritzker Auditorium

Origami Ornaments: Create a Kusudama
Thursday, March 4, 4:00 p.m.
West Lawn Branch

Tragedy to Triumph-The Story of Artemisia
Thursday, March 4, 6:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
Cindy Pritzker Auditorium

Art for Mothers and Daughters
Saturday, March 6, 2:00 p.m.
Sulzer Regional Library

Art Tour of the Harold Washington Library Center
Tuesday, March 9, 2:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
1st Floor Lobby

Learn to Knit: Knitting Basics
Wednesday, March 10, 4:00 p.m.
Rogers Park Branch

Women of the White House!
Wednesday, March 10, 4:00 p.m.
Legler Branch

Origami for Kids
Thursday, March 11, 3:30 p.m.
Mabel Manning Branch

Jan’s Clan’s Puppets
Friday, March 12, 10:30 a.m.
Woodson Regional Library

Honoring Georgia O’Keeffe’s Art
Saturday, March 13, 11:00 a.m.
North Pulaski Branch

The Power of Glamour: Screen Goddesses of Hollywood’s Golden Age
Saturday, March 13, 2:00 p.m.
Edgebrook Branch

Great Women of History: Jacqueline Kennedy
Saturday, March 13, 3:00 p.m.
King Branch

Art Tour of the Harold Washington Library Center
Tuesday, March 16, 2:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
1st Floor Lobby

Through the Eyes of Women-Famous Visual Artists
Tuesday, March 16, 4:00 p.m.
Beverly Branch

Learn to Knit: Knitting Basics
Tuesday, March 16, 4:00 p.m.
West Belmont Branch

Meet Mary Cassatt: An American Artist
Thursday, March 18, 3:30 p.m.
Garfield Ridge Branch

Through the Eyes of Women-Famous Visual Artists
Thursday, March 18, 4:00 p.m.
Toman Branch

Women’s Collective Art Practice in Chicago: 1937-2007
Thursday, March 18, 6:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
Video Theatre, Lower Level

Meet Mary Cassatt: An American Artist
Friday, March 19, 11:00 a.m.
Roden Branch

Honoring Georgia O’Keeffe’s Art
Saturday, March 20, 1:00 p.m.
McKinley Park

The Power of Glamour: Screen Goddesses of Hollywood’s Golden Age
Saturday, March 20, 2:00 p.m.
Roosevelt Branch

Meet Mary Cassatt: An American Artist
Monday, March 22, 11:00 a.m.
Jefferson Park

Origami Ornaments: Create a Kusudama
Monday, March 22, 3:30 p.m.
Walker Branch

Art Tour of the Harold Washington Library Center
Tuesday, March 23, 2:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
1st Floor Lobby

Through the Eyes of Women-Famous Visual Artists
Tuesday, March 23, 4:00 p.m.
Scottsdale Branch

Through the Eyes of Women-Famous Visual Artists
Wednesday, March 24, 11:00 a.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
Multipurpose Room (Lower Level)

Documentary Film Screenings: Conversation with Women Artists
Wednesday, March 24, 6:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
Video Theatre

Through the Eyes of Women-Famous Visual Artists
Thursday, March 25, 1:00 p.m.
Vodak-Eastside Branch

Origami Ornaments: Create a Kusudama
Thursday, March 25, 4:00 p.m.
Humboldt Park Branch

The Beatrix Potter Collection
Friday, March 26, 11:00 a.m.
Clearing Branch

Art for Mothers and Daughters
Saturday, March 27, 2:00 p.m.
Portage Cragin Branch

Great Women of History: Jacqueline Kennedy
Monday, March 29, 6:30 p.m.
Austin-Irving Branch

Art Tour of the Harold Washington Library Center
Tuesday, March 30, 2:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
1st Floor Lobby

Documentary Film Screenings: Conversations with Women Artists
Wednesday, March 31, 6:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
Video Theatre

Workshop

The Chicago Summer Business Institute (CSBI) provides a six-week paid internship program for high school sophomores and juniors each summer. These internships take place at various banks, accounting, engineering and law firms firms throughout the Loop and business districts. In conjunction with a 28-hour workweek, students attend half-day classroom seminars and workshops every week where they learn about the financial markets, attend seminars given by successful business executives, and participate in team building programs.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Student must currently be a Sophomore or Junior
• Student must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Student must attend either a public, parochial or private high school
• Student must be a resident of the City of Chicago; and
• Student must have an annual family income of $60,000 a year or less and a parent/guardian must sign a Certificate of Income Verification form.

The Atlantic Bar and Grill, located at 5062 N. Lincoln Avenue is a warm and friendly authentic Irish pub. With great food, twelve different beers on tap, live music every weekend and sporting events shown on a multitude of large flat screen TVs, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

The Atlantic Bar and Grill is open seven days a week serving lunch daily.

Coach DeVinney has been instrumental in training high school track and country at Mather High School for 10 years.  While the high school has no actual track to practice on, the team has gone on to win 5 state-wide championships using the school’s hallways to train and by running outside through the streets of Chicago. Many team members have gone on to win college scholarships because of their hard work and dedication.

Coach DeVinney has not only devoted his time but has also supplied such necessities as proper gym shoes and equipment to those team members who are not be able to supply these items for themselves.

Channel 2 News aired a segment highlighting the ingenuity that team members have used in making the hallways of Mather “track friendly”.  Video Link

Not only was the television airing of this accomplishment by the team members of Mather High School a great recognition,the broadcast also brought awareness to the community.  Coach DeVinney has been receiving phone calls and e-mails from people who want to help out and donate to a great cause.

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Every week we use a unique collaborative process to write rehearse and perform a new iteration of our signature late night show Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind.

Every year we produce at least four other World Premiere shows that are written or devised by our ensemble members.

Since TML opened this theater has produced more than 6,000 two-minute plays for TML, and more then 60 full length plays or site-specific theatrical events.

We are proud to keep our ticket prices affordable, and Thursday Nights at The Neo-Futurarium are always pay-what-you-can.

Our Statement of Purpose

As a group, we are dedicated to:

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Chicago’s award-winning Imagination Theater is a touring company that uses interactive theater to address social issues, educate communities, and improve life quality for participants of all ages.

From it’s inception in 1966, Imagination Theater has remained committed to the principles that the creative arts are essential to the full development of the individual; that all people have the ability to express themselves creatively; and that theater has a unique and important capacity to communicate to all people, regardless of age of perceived abilities.

With 42 years of innovative community service, Imagination Theater has gradually expanded its mission to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse audience.

We are working with a talented and public spirited team of men and women attached to theHomeless Education Program of the Chicago Public Schools who seek to provide comprehensive support to the more than 10,000 homeless youth involved with their program.

The Director of the Homeless Education Program believes that many of these youth whose family life has been severely disrupted for a host of reasons including foreclosure, unemployment of a parent, etc., would benefit by having a responsible and caring adult in their lives who can offer guidance and encouragement appropriate to the youth’s particular situation.

Right now, we are in the process of seeking out Chicago area residents, 16 years and above, to serve as volunteer tutor-mentors.  We are combining the function of mentoring and tutoring because many of these kids are in need of not just support and trouble-shooting but also basic educational skills development.

Please consider joining me and the rest of our CPS team in carrying out this timely and vital program for the benefit of our Chicago homeless kids which is so tightly linked with the future quality of life of our communities and our nation.  Complete the brief Volunteer Application Form to begin the process and start Making a Difference.